Insanity's Slip
by Boejangles
Summary: Re-write: When Naruto was one, he was adopted into the Uchiha household. When he is five, his older brother Sasuke goes a little crazy and almost everyone ends up dead. His eldest brother runs away, and he is left to survive with Sasuke, who isn't quite himself all the time.
1. Part One

**Insanity's Slip**

By Boejangles

Summary: When Naruto was one, he was adopted into the Uchiha household. When he is five, his older brother Sasuke goes a little crazy and almost everyone ends up dead. His eldest brother runs away, and he is left to survive with Sasuke, who isn't quite himself all the time.

Disclaimer: This work is based on fiction. This is a fictional take on mental illness, specifically DID and Schizophrenia. I make no claims that this is a correct representation of this mental illness. The idea of this story was influenced by sources including: 'Hide and Seek' and 'A Child Called It'

* * *

Sasuke's frame trembled like there was electricity just below the surface of his skin. Blood dripped from twitching fingers as his head raised with a glare. He turned to the older teen seething, "You! You did this!"

The taller male stood unmoving, staring back at the young boy without saying a word. His face was a mask of neutrality, completely unreadable.

Naruto took a few steps forward, reaching out, pleading, "Aniki stop, please just stop!" He ran and grabbed hold of Itachi's legs gripping with as much strength as his small arms could muster. "Help, stop Aniki," he was begging.

Itachi looked down at his adopted brother and then over at Sasuke, his face still blank like fresh fallen snow, "I'm leaving."

"No! Don't go. Don't leave me." Naruto grabbed harder onto Itachi's legs and shoved his face into the fabric of the pants that did little to dry the blonde's tears.

"You! You were working with him weren't you!" Sasuke screamed grabbing the blonde hair and yanking back. His eyes were wild with fury.

Naruto fell backwards clutching at the hand buried in his hair as an attempt to keep the strands from being yanked out. His five-year-old frame shook in fear more than pain as his small legs barely kept him upright. "No, no Aniki. Please just stop!" the words tore from his throat as a high-pitched cry.

Sasuke released his hold and kicked the smaller boy in the gut as he fell to the ground, "Shut up! Shut up you don't know anything! He killed our parents and you go to him for help! Traitor!" He kicked him again, the action was met with an audible crunch and a gasp of air.

Naruto clutched his stomach, eyes wide in pain, but his scream silenced as the air was forced from his lungs. There were several choked gasps before words before the boy managed to form words, "No…No Aniki… just stop." Tears glistened in bright blue eyes as the youngest on in the room forced himself onto his hands and knees. His voice wavered before continuing, "Don't hurt anyone else, please, stop hurting people."

The dark-haired boy yanked the smaller one up by both shoulders and shoved him roughly against the wall. "I haven't hurt anyone! It was Itachi that did it!" He moved to motion to his older brother only to notice that the teen wasn't there anymore. "Look at that! You let him get away! You let our parents murder get away!" He slapped the blonde hard enough to knock him back to the ground.

"No! No! You did it!" Naruto started frantically crawling away before stumbling to his feet and running as fast as he could, which wasn't very fast at all with one arm cradling his bruised ribs.

"Don't kill me!" The scream echoed off the walls and hung in the air as if you could reach up and touch it. Naruto fell backwards having run into something firm and bounced off. He quickly shielded his tear stained face, "Please don't kill me!"

"It's okay, you are safe. We're ANBU, we are here to help," a masculine voice spoke in a soothing tone.

Naruto looked up and grabbed onto the man, his desperation back full force, "Help me, my brothers crazy!"

"It's okay, you are safe now." The man in the wolf mask repeated as he looked around scanning the house for movement.

A man wearing a hawk mask rushed over, "There was another survivor, he's in the other room. He is suffering from emotional trauma but should be fine. He has identified the killer. It was Itachi."

The one in the wolf mask rubbed the blonde's back in a soothing manner attempted to calm the trembling child. "It's okay you are safe from your brother now; we will catch him."

"No. No. No." Naruto shook his head back and fourth furiously causing his bangs to swing wildly.

"Its okay calm down, you are safe." The man's words failed to calm the child.

The small boy kept shaking, _'that's not the brother I'm scared of'_ the thought echoed around his skull but refused to break through his lips.

-/-

That Saturday was the funeral. The numbers of the Uchiha had already been reduced from the Kyuubi attack. Over fifty of the most important members of the clan died after being poisoned during a clan meeting, the clan head being killed during that incident. Almost everyone else was caught in the violent explosions that nearly took out the whole Uchiha district. Only three bodies were found that were brutally murdered, chopped up, and barely recognizable: the clan heads wife, his sister, and brother-in-law.

Naruto stood with his head bowed, hand to his face wiping away his tears as the speaker continued talking about how good the people had been. Besides him was his seven-year-old brother Sasuke, who was looking at the coffins that were getting ready to be buried.

The blonde sniffed and tried wiping his face clean as the funeral ended.

"Come on," the voice besides him spoke, "we should get home." His brother moved his hand onto the smaller ones back and started walking lightly pushing the other along.

Naruto looked up at his older brother. He was still in a state of shock; Sasuke had been acting like nothing happened since the morning after the massacre. He was still frightened by him, afraid that at any moment he would finish what he had started that night, but tried not to act to weird. The last thing he wanted to do was aggravate his brother, so best thing to do was play along and try to deal with everything he was going through by himself.

"Okay," he answered quietly and walked besides yet slightly behind the older boy.

"I am going to talk to the Hokage tomorrow about getting you into the academy. I know it's a year early, but better safe then sorry if Itachi comes back," Sasuke said still looking forward.

' _Does he actually believe?'_ Eyes widened at the thought. Did Sasuke truly believe that their older brother had murdered their family. How did he not know? How could he not remember his own actions? Naruto sighed before taking in a breath and speaking, "Okay, if that's what you want."

The older boy whirled around with anger in his eyes. His voice came out cold, "What? You don't want to go to the academy? You don't want to be safe from Itachi? You don't want to kill him for what he did?"

The blonde's eyes widened in shock at his apparent misstep and quickly moved to placate it. "Oh, no! I mean yes! I mean I want to go," he finished off quietly.

"Alright, good." Sasuke gave a nod before turning and opening the door to their dwelling. "You should really clean this place up too. I'm busy at the academy, then to have to come home cook for you and clean up everything. You need to do better."

"Yes, I'll get on it. I'm sorry."

-/-

The next week, Naruto started the academy a year early from the normal six. Within three months Sasuke convinced the Hokage to bump him up to where he was in Sasuke's class so that he could help with the younger one's studies.

The years flew by, and before they knew it, it had been five years since the Uchiha Massacre, as it later became known as. In a week the genin exams were being held. Which is why the twelve-year-old Sasuke was trying his best to make sure his ten-year-old brother would pass.

Naruto had troubles all throughout the academy; some teachers blamed it on his emotional problems and stress, others blamed it on the demon and said he was just an idiot.

"Okay, practice the clone again," Sasuke said from where he sat looking at the blonde.

"I'm trying, I'm just really fidgety," the blonde called out quietly hating that he was disappointing his brother.

"Well then calm down and try again. You must pass. If you don't, then they will hold you back and then there is no way that we will be on the same squad. I have worked too hard for this for you to screw it up. So just try harder. You aren't that stupid, are you? It's not that hard. You just aren't doing your best." The older boy had his arms crossed in exacerbation. His eyes spoke clearer than his words that he honestly believed the younger boy just wasn't trying.

Naruto clamped his jaw down and closed his eyes. He didn't know if his brother knew that his words just added more stress, or if he did it on purpose. He took in a breath and counted to ten in his head. "Bunshin no Jutsu," he called out releasing chakra.

There was a pop and some smoke. He peeked open an eye to see. There was a clone, but it looked like it was already dead. He sighed in defeat as it puffed out of existence.

"Damn it! Can't you do any better than that?" Sasuke shook his head agitated, "Here watch." He made the hand seals and two clones puffed into being. "See, simple. Do it again."

The younger one took a breath to calm himself and then tried again with the same miserable results. He honestly didn't know what he was doing wrong. He was trying, he really was, but he knew that there was no convincing his brother of that.

"Gah! You idiot! You can't do anything right! I bet you screw up just to make me mad!" Sasuke slapped the younger boy straight across the face with such ease, like it was normal, and the boy had simply deserved it.

"Try it again. Stay out here till you can get it right." With that he turned and walked into the building leaving his brother in the backyard.

Naruto stood there until the door closed. Once it was firmly closed, he dropped to his knees and began to cry. He was trying his hardest. He just couldn't make it work. No matter how many times he tried or how calm he tried to be beforehand, it always turned out the same. A ruin.

He stood up and took a deep breath. He tried to ignore when his brother was a little mean now and then, it was better than when he had his violent days. Or when Naruto really screwed up and got his brother really angry, that never turned out good- that was when the monster showed up.

When he was six he tried running away to find Itachi, but Sasuke had found him and dragged him back home; unconscious. After that he had to stay home from the academy for over a week to heal. He never tried leaving home again.

Over time he told himself something was wrong with his big brother and needed his help. Sometimes he helped as being a breathing punching bag during 'spars'. He never learned why his brother did what he did. But every time he brought up the event from when he was five, Sasuke would get angry, storm out, come back late, and he would end up having to 'spar' for hours until he couldn't get back up or he was unconscious.

Naruto started walking out of the yard, he knew he shouldn't disobey his brother, in fact a small voice in the back of his head was screaming that he knew better than this, that he was making a huge mistake, but he also knew no matter how long he tried to create a clone it wouldn't work. So, he decided to go somewhere to calm down and try and relax.

He walked into the ramen shop and smiled at the owner, "Hey old man!" The older man had never been anything but kind to the orphans. He refused to let them pay whenever they visited his establishment.

"Oh, hi there Naruto. You haven't been in here in a while." A smile played on his lips as he grabbed a bowl and started filling it with noodles and broth.

"Sorry, I have been kinda busy getting ready for the genin exams coming up," the child explained breaking apart his chopsticks excited for the warm meal.

"Oh, is that right. They're tomorrow, aren't they?" he asked raising an eyebrow as he set the bowl in front of the blonde.

"Yup!" Naruto cheered happily even though part of him was dreading it. He smiled up at the owner as he dug into his bowl of ramen eating it at a rapid speed.

"What happened to your eye?" the man asked from behind the counter.

"Oh, hehe, I must have just got hurt training." The blonde laughed it off easily having become a pro at explaining away multiple types of injuries and took his second bowl. "I'll take this to go, thanks!"

"No problem!" the owner said to the retreating back of the boy, "Bring your brother next time!"

-/-

Naruto sat on the swing pushing himself with his feet as he took another bite of ramen. He came here when he needed to be by himself. It just seemed to calm him. He sighed looking over at the academy. Tomorrow was the big day. An uneasiness settled in his stomach and he suddenly thought he was going to regret eating the second bowl.

"What are you doing here." Naruto jumped at the voice, he knew that voice. He looked up to see his brother standing in front of him; his face unreadable. "I thought I told you to practice your clones. Plus, I never gave you permission to leave the yard," his voice was flat not giving away to what degree the boy was upset.

"I'm not a little kid anymore! I can look out for myself. I don't need you always hovering over me." Almost as soon as he said the words he was pushed backwards off the swing falling roughly onto his back.

"Shut up! You do need me. Now we are going back home." Sasuke grabbed a hold of the smaller boy's arm and started dragging him across the ground.

"Ow, you are hurting me. Let go." Naruto pulled on his arm in a jerking motion. When that didn't cause his brother's grip to falter, he rotated and did a half crawl jump to get onto his feet so that he could jog behind his brother as an attempt to keep up with his pace.

The raven-haired boy only pulled on his arm harder, "No, you should have known better then to leave the yard when I had told you to do something. You disobeyed a direct order."

"I'm sorry, I am, really, just let go," the ten-year-old pleaded feeling pain surging through his shoulder at the harsh jerking it was receiving.

"Fine." He pulled the younger boy in front of him and gave him a push to move forward. "Keep walking."

Naruto sighed to himself and kept walking in the direction of their home. After a few minutes of walking they were there. He opened the door and stepped aside to let his brother in. He knew it was coming, he knew he would be punished, he just didn't know what it would be.

"Just get inside and close the door," Sasuke ordered. When the door was closed he whirled around and faced the smaller boy. "So, if you have time to go around town show me your perfect clone."

"I can't," Naruto said in a small voice looking at the hard wood floors beneath his feet. He couldn't bring himself to look into the dark eyes right now.

"Why can't you?" the older male's voice came out more of a statement than a question, like he already knew the correct answer.

"I just can't, it doesn't work." Naruto knew he was telling the truth, but also knew it would do no good.

"That's why I told you to practice, so that you could do it. I am giving you the count of three to create a proper clone. One."

Naruto fidgeted and did the hand seal trying to concentrate.

"Two."

He gulped and then focused as hard as he could.

"Three."

There was a poof and there lying on the floor was a very screwed up clone.

"Run."

"But, please you don't understand," Naruto attempted to plea with his brother that he knew was behind the anger.

"Run."

"Please."

"Run."

Naruto took off running as fast as he could. He slid around the corner and then jumped the stairs three at a time. He went as fast as he could down the hallway and into his room slamming the door shut and throwing the lock. Not a second later there was a bang at the door. He jumped out the sound and bit his lip to keep from screaming.

Naruto slid into his closet, tying the rope from the door handle to the hook attached to the ceiling. He waited as quietly as he could and listened. He heard a click, then the door opening, and footsteps coming inside. He closed his eyes tight and wished it all to go away. It was his fault; he shouldn't have made him mad. He shouldn't have disobeyed.

The smaller boy jumped when the closet door was pulled. "Come out, come out. Let's play a game." The blonde started shaking, he hated when his brother got like this. It didn't happen as often as when they were younger, but lately it was slowly getting worse. "Come on, you aren't scared, now are you? Come out. Come on, open the door."

The rope pulled and shifted but didn't give. _'Please hold, please hold, please hold. If there is a God up there, please help me. Please help my brother; he needs you. I don't know what is wrong with him, but please help him.'_ The ropes shifted again, and the door opened slightly before snapping shut again. _'Please oh please oh please hold'_

"Come on little brother, I thought you liked our games. So just come out and play." Sasuke pushed against the door jamming a kunai in the slit to pry it open. He slammed against it again shifting the rope and getting the door to open and inch before shoving the kunai in.

Naruto pulled his knees closer to his chest. "Please, please just go away," he whispered. His head shot up as the rope snapped loose and the door swung open. "Ahh!" He tried to shoot past his brother and get out of the closet.

"No you don't." Sasuke grabbed his shirt and stopped the escape attempt. "Come on, I did my part of the game it's time for yours."

"I don't want to play Sasuke. I don't want to play any games tonight." He struggled to free himself from the stronger grasp.

"What happened to Aniki? And I want to play the game." He pushed down and kicked at the same time making the smaller boy tumble onto the ground.

"I'm sorry Aniki, I'm sorry. I'll listen, I promise. I'm sorry," he started mumbling as quickly as he could while crawling backwards trying to create some distance between them.

The dark-haired boy kicked out, landing a solid blow to the smaller one's ribs, which earned a yelp. "Oh come on aren't you having fun?"

The blonde pulled his arms in front of him to protect him from the blows. "No, please stop," the plea only earned him another kick.

"Fine, I'll stop. I need you to be in top condition tomorrow. So, get some sleep." Sasuke turned, stepped over the younger boy and walked out of the room shutting the door.

"Nyghhh." Naruto rolled onto his side clutching his ribs. He closed his eyes yelling at himself not to cry, to just get up and get to bed. He moved to get up, but just ended up rolling tighter into himself. _'Thanks God, thanks for looking out for the little guy.'_

He ended up staying on the floor for the next thirty minutes before trying to get up again. He shifted and made his way to the bed and laid down looking over at the dresser and knowing he should change into clean clothes.

He reached for the top drawer picking out a big blue shirt and setting it on the bed. He pulled off his black pants and started peeling off his orange shirt when there was a knock on his door. He froze looking over at the door.

"Hey just me, I wanted to make sure you got to bed on time cause of the exam tomorr…hey what happened to your side?" Sasuke asked standing in the doorway.

Naruto sighed and finished pulling off his shirt before pulling on the blue one. _'He's back.'_ He looked over at the door with a forced smile and spoke softly, "Oh, it's nothing, I'll be fine."

"Sure you don't want to get some ice on it? Tomorrow's the big day," concern laced Sasuke's voice as he sized up the purple spot on his brother's side.

"Naw, you know me. I'm a quick healer, I will be fine by morning." He smiled wider waving a hand dismissively. "I think we should both get some sleep."

"Yeah, you're right. I guess I'll leave you then. See you in the morning. Sleep well." Sasuke turned and shut the door heading down the hall.

Naruto sighed and fell back against the bed closing his eyes. _'I never know which Sasuke I'm going to get, if it will be my Aniki, or that monster'_ He sighed again turning off the lamp and getting under his covers.

-/-

Naruto glanced up from his bowl of cereal to his brother that was running around the kitchen like a chicken with it head cut off. He knew that he was nervous, but if he was nervous about the test or Naruto failing the boy didn't know. He sighed and looked back down at his bowl. Lately he had been contemplating purposely failing.

"Alright you ready to go?" Sasuke asked, effectively breaking the blonde out of his thoughts.

"Yeah," was the simple reply as he put the bowl in the sink and slipped his shoes on. The house was kept way too clean for his liking, but that's the way it had been since it was just the two of them.

-/-

"Alright, we have practiced really hard. We can do this okay?" the raven-haired boy assured the younger of the two as they took their seats.

"Okay, yeah." He looked over at his Aniki and then down at his hands. He didn't want to be put on the same team as him. But he couldn't just outright purposely fail; he had to make it look like he tried, or else his brother would be mad.

Naruto took out a pencil as the written part of the test was passed out. He stole a glance at Sasuke and then concentrated at his paper. _'Okay, I can't just turn it in blank. Think. Think. All right, just answer the worse possible answers you can think of. Yeah that should do it.'_

Soon they were led outside for shuriken testing.

Naruto watched as his brother scored a perfect before he was called up. He looked at his brother from the corner of his eye. He threw the first and missed the target completely.

"It's okay Naruto, take a breath and calm down. Don't be so nervous," Iruka encouraged.

Naruto took a breath and caught sight of Sasuke about ready to have a panic attack. The blonde closed his eyes and then threw another kunai hitting the edge of the target. He threw the last one and hit more towards the center and off to the left.

"Very good Naruto. Alright class we are moving back inside for the last part of the test."

Naruto followed with his head down until he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry, I know you are going to pass the next part," Sasuke said with a confident smirk.

"But I still can't do the clone." Blue eyes searched his brother's face for a reaction.

"Don't worry, just relax and do your best." Naruto couldn't help but be slightly unsettled by the look of confidence on the older Uchiha's face.

-/-

Naruto waited for his turn to go back playing his fingers along the desk. This is where he was going to fail. He couldn't do the clone, and he knew that he couldn't. They would have to fail him. Then Sasuke would move on and he would be put on a team next year.

He watched as Sasuke came out holding his forehead protector with a smirk.

"Good job Aniki!" Naruto smiled before standing up knowing he was next.

"Alright, just do your best okay."

"Alright." Naruto nodded walking into the back room.

"Okay Naruto, I want you to henge into someone," Iruka prompted.

"Okay." Naruto nodded and made the proper seals and before even thinking said, "Henge!" There standing in front of them was the exact replica of Itachi from five years ago.

Iruka went wide eyed, "O…okay good." Naruto dropped the henge. "Alright now create three clones."

The blonde took a deep breath _'alright here goes and I am home free'_. He made the hand seals and then there was a loud poof followed by smoke. _'Wait a minute'._

There standing next to him were three perfect clones. "Good Naruto! You pass! Congratulations!" Iruka handed him a Konoha forehead protector.

' _But I never finished the Jutsu,'_ Naruto thought dumbly taking the piece of metal and cloth before walking out of the room. He was really confused. What had just happened?

"See I told you it was no problem," Sasuke smirked.

"Did you?" The blonde finally put all the pieces together.

Sasuke had been standing right outside the door and made the clones and henged them to look like Naruto. The blonde didn't know that his brother was even capable of working the jutsu that quickly.

"I had to, I knew you couldn't. But hey you passed." He smiled patting the other one's shoulder.

'But I didn't want to' He forced a smile, "Yeah I passed."  
They left after Iruka announced that they were to come back after the weekend for group assignments and meeting their team.

-/-

"I'm proud of you, you did good," Sasuke said taking a different route then they normally took. "I think you deserve a treat, how about some ramen?"

Naruto smiled, "Yeah, I'd like that." It was difficult to adjust to the nice Sasuke so soon after the mean one. Then there was always the distant Sasuke, that's the one he was most often.

They ate their ramen in peaceful quiet before heading home.

-/-

It was late Saturday afternoon. Naruto was sitting in the empty bathtub rocking back and forth slightly staring at the wall in front of him.

Sasuke had been looking everywhere for Naruto but couldn't find him anywhere. He knocked on the upstairs bathroom door. There was no answer, so he opened the door. "There you are! I have been looking everywhere why didn't you answer my calls…oh my god are you okay?" he asked frantically noticing that he was covered in blood and staring off at nothing.

Sasuke rushed forward when he noticed the blonde unresponsive. "Hey look at me." He slapped him lightly trying to get eye contact.

Naruto blinked and turned towards Sasuke, but his eyes were still distant, unfocused. Sasuke frowned, he couldn't find an injury on the boy, but there was so much blood. He looked down in the bathtub and noticed the bunny.

It was a brown bunny with gray speckles, but was now almost completely red. It had what looked like gauze and tape wrapped around it, but it was most certainly dead. He then realized the blonde was covered in the rabbit's blood. It must have bled almost completely dry.

Sasuke looked in shock at his brother, "What did you do! Why'd you kill him! Why'd you kill freckles?!" The bunny had been there pet for the past two years.

Naruto's eyes snapped to life as he looked at the older boy. "I didn't do it! I was trying to save him. But he was dead before I could do anything. I tried anyways, but he wouldn't come back! I couldn't save him!" Tears were streaming down his face as he looked back at the bunny that he had bandaged up as if it would restore life.

"You didn't do it? Then who the hell did it!" Sasuke screamed very angry.

"I didn't do it, it was the monster!"

"Monster? I am supposed to believe this? I am tired of your lies!"

-/-

 **Three hours earlier**

Naruto was playing with Freckles and laughing. Sasuke had gone out to train and he was left to do what he wanted as long as he stayed in the house. He shot his head up when his bedroom door opened.

"Oh hey, I thought you were out training."

"I was," Sasuke answered walking closer.

"Oh okay, I was just playing with Freckles before starting lunch."

"Aren't you a little old to be playing around and wasting time?" Sasuke said taking a step closer.

"Well you have to play around once in a while." Naruto smiled, but his expression suddenly changed when he noticed the knife in his brother's hands. "Aniki what are you doing?" he asked scooting backwards.

"I am going to remove the distraction," he said grabbing the rabbit by the scruff of its neck and pulling up the blade.

"No! Don't!" Naruto screamed jumping to his feet and running forward. He stopped when blood splattered on his face and he went wide-eyed. The knife had gone down into the rabbit shooting blood out. The blonde almost went into a state of shock as Sasuke ripped out the blade pulling it up again ready for another strike. "NO!"

Naruto tried to block the knife but was only cut along his arm before it entered the rabbit spraying him with blood again. "Stop please stop! You are going to kill it!" Tears were making their way down his face, "Don't do this stop please!"

Sasuke didn't listen as he pulled out the knife and stabbed it down again. The blonde tried to grab the knife but was only cut deeply before he pulled his hand back. Cradling it in his other hand. "Please, please stop. No more, please." Naruto clutched his eyes shut.

"No. Watch." When the knife met Naruto's cheek his eyes shot open to see the bunny stabbed again. He was forced to watch unable to do anything as his pet was stabbed over and over and sliced up. He was unable to move, each time he asked his brother to stop or moved to take the bunny he was cut. By the time Sasuke had stopped the younger boy was covered in blood, some of it his own, but mostly the bunny's.

The older boy threw the dead rabbit at the sobbing boy before turning and leaving. Naruto rushed to the bathroom trying to stop the bunnies bleeding not wanting to believe that it was had long ago died.

-/-

 **Current Time**

Sasuke slapped the boy across the face. He words crawled up his throat as a growl, "Don't lie to me! There is no such thing as monsters. You did this didn't you!"

Naruto was shaking his head back and forth violently. "No! No! I didn't do it; it wasn't me! It was the monster, the monster did it."

The raven-haired boy grabbed the younger one's blonde locks and yanked him out of the tub. "You are covered in blood; your clothes are soaked with it and now you tell me that you didn't kill Freckles but that it was some monster. LIAR!" Sasuke screamed.

"I didn't do it!" Slap. "It wasn't me!" Slap. "I swear, I'm not the one that did it. IT WAS YOU!" Punch. Bang. Towel rack topples. Kick. Slap. Knock out.

Sasuke stood furious that the bunny killer had the nerve to say that he had done it when he had been out training all day. He kicked the unconscious blood covered blonde and left the bathroom slamming the door.

-/-

Naruto woke up later that night and scrubbed the blood off him like it was a disease. He scrubbed till his skin was raw. He put the bunny in a shoebox and wrote 'Freckles' on the top in a permanent marker. He then buried it in the backyard.

Even when he got into bed that night he still felt like he was covered in blood.

-/-

Monday rolled around without any more problems. Iruka was in the front of the class reading out teams.

Naruto was still shook up over everything and was staring at his desk like it was the cause for all his problems.

"And Team Seven is Uchiha Naruto, Haruno Sakura, and Uchiha Sasuke. Team leader Hatake Kakashi."

Naruto suddenly became much more depressed and didn't respond when Sasuke patted his shoulder happily.

"Alright everybody, go eat lunch and you will meet up with your team leaders when lunch is over," Iruka announced.

-/-

Naruto tapped his fingers against the desk waiting for their Jounin instructor to show up, Sasuke was leaning back in his chair and staring at the ceiling impatiently, and Sakura was sitting on the table in front of the two boys.

"You okay Naruto?" Sakura decided to ask after the boy shot another glance at the door. She had decided to play the big sister role for two reasons: one, he was Sasuke's little brother and being close to him meant being close to Sasuke no matter how you look at it; two, he had always been the baby of the class and seemed so innocent and kind.

"Huh?" Naruto looked up at the pink haired girl as if walking up from a daze, "Oh yeah, I'm fine, just a little nervous." In truth he was petrified for two very different reasons. One, was that he was now going to spend even more time around Sasuke and it was hard enough walking on eggshells at home. The second reason was that they would find out he had cheated on the exam and throw him out where he could never be a ninja again.

They all turned as their attention was drawn to the opening door. A head full of silver hair poked in, "Yo. Meet me on the roof." And with that the head was gone again.

"I think that was our Jounin instructor," Sakura decided it was appropriate to state the obvious.

They made their way to the roof, Naruto sticking to the back and watching for signs in his brother for what his mood was.

Kakashi watched them walk in and sit down. "Alright, lets introduce ourselves, shall we? Tell me your name, likes, dislikes, dreams, hobbies, the basics." His eyes wandered over the three, "I am Hatake Kakashi and that's about all you need to know about me. Now you first pinky."

Sakura gave a small glare at their teacher, but it disappeared as fast as it had come. "I'm Haruno Sakura, I like…many things, I dislike Ino-pig, my dream is to be as great as Tsunade of the Sanin and be seen in the eyes that I so want to see me, my hobbies, well there's a lot."

Kakashi caught her glances at Sasuke through her speech, _'Maybe she has her priorities a little mixed up, but her dream is understandable and can be worked with.'_ "Alright good, go." He pointed to Sasuke.

"My name is Uchiha Sasuke, I like training and getting stronger, I dislike things that get in my way, and I don't have any hobbies, my dream is to bring honor to my clan by killing a certain man and reviving it to its former glory."

' _Bent on revenge, I was expecting this, but it's different to actually hear it. Maybe I can change his mind. I wonder if the other one is walking the same road.'_ He looked at Naruto, "Alright, you go."

The blonde had been staring at the ground the entire time only stiffening when his brother stated his dream. He looked up at Kakashi and actually looked at him for the first time. His eyes widened, "I…it's you…" his voice trailed off as his mind relived the memory.

 **Flashback**

 _Naruto was shaking; the man in the wolf ANBU mask had grabbed him and carried him out of the building. He didn't want to leave the house even though it was on fire and likely to collapse, the ANBU stopped trying to reason with the boy and just grabbed him._

 _He was now sitting on the couch in the ANBU quarters while most were out looking for Itachi and the Hokage was busy trying to organize a plan and get the Uchiha district fires under control._

 _The man who had carried him here walked into the room. "Your brother has just finished telling us what had happened and will be in here shortly. Then we can find a place for you guys to stay."_

" _No…no don't send me away. I don't want to go it's not safe!"_

" _You are safe now, don't worry. There's no way that Itachi can get into Konoha alive." At the comment the blonde winced and began crying even harder. The ANBU took off his mask to better comfort the boy. When the mask was off there was a younger Kakashi with a black bandana covering his left eye._

" _No! You don't understand! It's not safe, not safe at all. He'll kill me! I'm going to die if you send me away!" Naruto spoke through his sobs trying to wipe his face with his shirt._

" _No one is going to hurt you. You are going to be safe okay? Nothing more is going to happen, you are going to be alright now."_

" _You just don't understand, you don't understand!" With that the door opened and Sasuke walked in. The blonde went quiet. Kakashi took it as a sign that the boy was comforted by his brother being there._

" _Alright, I'll leave you two and go make arrangements for somewhere for you to live."_

 **End Flashback**

Kakashi wondered how the boy had remembered him from five years ago, but then thought the boy probably remembered everything about that night. "Yes, it is. Now will you introduce yourself?"

"Huh? Oh yeah," Naruto shook his head slightly, "My name is Uchiha Naruto, I like…sunshine, I dislike…darkness and yelling and blood, my hobbies are…" He paused much longer then the first two times. He was about to say playing with his pet, but then started reliving the memories of the bloody scene. He then had to think hard, he never really had time for hobbies he was always with Sasuke and when he wasn't he didn't do much but, "walking, my dream…is to find a place where the sun always shines."

Kakashi raised an eyebrow and then slowly lowered it, he realized that the blonde was speaking in a type of code trying to say what he wanted but not wanting to say what he meant. _'Doesn't like blood and yelling, but wants to be a ninja? I can understand though there was a lot of blood when we found them that night. I see the Uchiha massacre affected him to, just in a different way. Which one is worse off I still am unsure.'_

"Okay, now that we all know each other I can tell you about the test tomorrow."

"What test?" Sakura asked not liking the sound of it.

"Oh, simple survivals test really to see if you have what it takes to be genin." He was smiling at their expressions.

"But we already are genin," Sasuke said looking at the man with what appeared to be a calculating look, or it could have been annoyance.

"Ah, not quite, you have been tested to see if you have a chance to be genin this will prove that you are or if you need to go back to the academy for more training." Then there was silence. Kakashi eyed the blond that had taken an interest in his own shoes.

"Meet me at training ground seven tomorrow morning at eight, and don't eat breakfast unless you want to puke it back up again." He grinned at the shocked expressions at least on the two faces that were looking at him and then he puffed into smoke leaving the three to their own.

"Hey, Sasuke, Naruto, want to go get something to eat and get better acquainted?" Sakura asked looking from one to the other and really hoping Sasuke would want to go.

Naruto lifted his head up with a smile and got ready to reply with 'I'd love to' but Sasuke had set his hand on the younger boy's shoulder.

"No, me and Naruto need to do some training tonight, maybe another time." With that he stood up and beckoned the blonde to follow him. To which Naruto stood up and hurried after.

-/-

The next morning Naruto woke up at six like he always did, just like it was programmed into his brain. He pulled on the dark blue short-sleeved shirt and black pants that Sasuke had deemed necessary to get after he had made genin. Naruto would have been happy to stick with his more comfortable orange shorts and white shirt, but this outfit had more pockets and was less likely to be noticed.

He moved quietly down the stairs careful not to wake his brother that woke up at six thirty. Naruto sat at the couch and started reading a book on tactics that Sasuke had said would help his planning and help him pay attention. So, he read it hoping to please his brother.

By six thirty his stomach was growling, he didn't think he could do the whole no breakfast thing. He looked at the stairs; his brother must just be waking up or still in the shower.

The blonde stood and moved to the kitchen, a small snack couldn't hurt anything their sensei had planned. He pulled out a pot and started boiling some water for ramen. He leaned against to counter and waited after he pulled out the instant ramen cup. He started thinking about how great it would be if there were a seal on the lid of the ramen so that when you took it off boiling water automatically filled the cup.

He laughed at the idea and turned when he heard the water boiling. Naruto poured the water into the ramen cup and moved to set the pot in the sink when he was shoved towards the stove from behind.

The startle from being pushed made him drop the pot and reach out to stop himself from falling. Without thinking he grabbed onto the stovetop only to scream in pain as his hand met the burner and he pulled it away quickly.

"What are you doing?" It was a question, but the voice held no question in it. Naruto turned around nursing his burnt hand and looked at the source of the voice.

"I'm sorry Sasuke, did I wake you?" he asked curiously and hoped he could calm his brother quickly.

"No, you idiot, but why are you cooking? We were told not to eat!" Naruto looked into Sasuke's eyes and blue orbs widened, he wasn't talking to his brother right now.

"I'm sorry I was hungry, I didn't think it would cause a problem." The younger boy reached his hand out attempting to placate his brother's anger before it transformed into fury.

"You didn't think, that's right you didn't think! You never think!" The dark eyes spotted the burnt hand and then held a flicker of something Naruto couldn't distinguish. Sasuke's hand shot out and grabbed the younger one's wrist pulling his arm over the still lit stovetop. The blonde shouted in pain as the fire licked his arm.

"AH! Sasuke stop! It hurts! It's burning Sasuke stop! Please!" Naruto was viciously pulling on his arm trying to get it free from the hold keeping it at the flames.

"No. Stop struggling." His hold on the small wrist became stronger, tighter, crushing the skin beneath.

The blonde screamed loudly, it felt like his skin was melting away. He yanked his arm as hard as he could, "AHH! Just let go! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Please, let go. It hurts it really hurts! AHHH!" No matter how hard he yanked Sasuke would just pull his arm back all he managed from fighting was burning a wider area on his arm.

Then Sasuke's words clicked, and he bit down hard onto lip and forced himself to stop moving his arm. It burnt and stung and hurt like hell, but he used all his will power not to move it.

The dark-haired boy let go of the younger one's wrist. Naruto went to yank his arm back quickly when Sasuke reached out and grabbed the wrist again. "I didn't say you could move it yet." He let go of the small wrist again.

Naruto whimpered, and his arm was trembling, but it stayed in the flame a few seconds longer.

"Fine. You're done." With that Naruto pulled his arm close trying to stop it from hurting so much. "So, are you still hungry?"

Naruto shook his head furiously in the negative.

"Good. Now go clean yourself up!"

Naruto ran up the stairs as fast as he could; glad to be away from the monster. He wished his brother could see what happened to him and stop doing this. He moved his arm under the cold water of the sink hoping to stop it from blistering, but it was pointless. He knew that he always healed quickly and knew that it would go away. However, the pain was scarred into his mind like all the other times.

He wrapped up the burn gently not wanting to cause even more pain. The blonde then went back into his room to change his shirt; opting for a long sleeved black shirt to hide the injury. This one would have been harder to explain that a bruise here or there or broken bones every once in a while.

When he quietly made his way down stairs he looked for his brother, not wanting to have another bad encounter.

"Oh, there you are otouto, I was wondering when you were going to wake up," Sasuke said with a smile from the couch.

"Sorry Aniki, I guess I was just really tired last night." Naruto gave a small smile back, but his eyes were filled with pain, however Sasuke didn't notice.

-/-

Naruto stood next to the wooden training post fidgeting with the ends of his sleeves. Sasuke was sitting leaning against the post. They had arrived at seven and waited an hour before Sakura showed up right before eight. She was now leaning against the other training post occasionally trying to make conversation.

The blonde's mind was bouncing all over the place. From going over what happened this morning, to the test coming up, to how Kakashi had been the ANBU he tried to tell all those years ago. He glanced down at Sasuke and then let go of his sleeve deciding to sit down.

"So, it's amazing you both got on the same team, I mean being related and all." Sakura tried again at starting conversation.

"I was expecting it," Sasuke answered before the blonde said anything. The younger boy just stared at the grass in front of him deciding he didn't need to participate in the conversation.

"Oh really? I think we will make a great team. I mean you two already work perfectly together." Sakura chimed in again.

"Hn," was the reply after the raven-haired boy decided he had said enough.

The silence carried on for a while before the pink haired girl couldn't take it, "Hey Naruto, I like your new look," she spoke with a grin and a thumbs up.

"Thank you, Sasuke said it was better suited for a ninja," Naruto said looking over his outfit and began playing with the ends of the black shirt again, "You look nice too."

"Thank you." She leaned her head against the training post and took in the silence. It was another hour before there was much of any noise. It came in a popping noise and a puff of smoke.

"Yo." Kakashi smiled and gave a small wave.

"You're late, very late," Sakura said already annoyed at their teacher.

"Ah, I am sorry I was on my way here when a troll said I had to pay a toll to cross the bridge and I had left my wallet at home." This excuse was not believed. "Anyhow, let's get on with the test." He lifted up two bells that jingled slightly in the wind. "To pass, you must get one of these bells."

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, only two passing. Then it could be just him and his brother with more serious training then if the girl was weighing them down.

Naruto however was having very different thoughts, _'don't get the bell. Just don't get the bell and they will pass and I won't. Makes sense and sounds easy enough.'_

"But sensei, there's only two bells and three of us," Sakura said clearly not understand the dog eat dog of it all.

"Exactly Sakura, which means that one of you will definitely fail and go back to the academy." He moved a timer and set it on the stump like training post. "You have three hours to get a bell, ready, go." With that all three ran off with different thoughts in their head.

-/-

' _Okay, this is easy, just make an attempt but make sure to fail. At least if I try Sasuke can't get mad. All right you can do this. Just get out there and put on a show.'_ Naruto took in a deep breath and got ready to run out of the bushes when a hand grabbed his shoulder. With the motion he was in along with being startled made him whirl around half way before landing on his backside.

"Sorry, get up." Sasuke crouched down next to the blonde and waited for him to sit up.

"What are you doing?" the younger boy asked with confusion in his blue eyes.

"You are going to be a distraction while I make an attack. Get out there and count to twenty and then get away."

"Uh, okay," Naruto said before getting upright and running out of the bushes towards Kakashi. _'Now what am I supposed to do? Grr.'_

Kakashi turned when he heard a branch snap and brought up his arm to block the oncoming kick. He raised an eyebrow when he saw it was Naruto. He didn't expect him to make the first attack after he said he didn't like violence.

' _One.'_ The blonde spun around to deliver another kick but was blocked again and thrown off. ' _Two'_ Naruto got up off the ground and ran towards the gray-haired man again. He threw two punches quick, one towards the face that was blocked and one to the stomach that was caught.

Kakashi held onto the blonde's wrist, "Lesson one, taijutsu." He stopped when he noticed Naruto had clenched his teeth in what seemed to be pain from just the hold on his wrist. _'I'm not holding that hard, hmm, he must have injured it earlier.'_

Naruto took his sensei's momentary distraction and brought his other hand in a fist punching the older man's forearm and successfully freeing his other hand. _'Eleven'_ He pulled his hand close to him, ' _Damn it the burn still hurts; I need to watch that!'_

Kakashi pulled his arm back after having it hit and watched for the younger boy's movement. He moved to the side when a kick came aimed for his head. He moved quickly coming behind the blonde.

Naruto drew back his leg and spun around to face his sensei who was crouched down. _'Sixteen'_ He jumped back to dodge a strange attack that had been in motion when he turned around.

Kakashi found the blonde's refluxes impressive as his thousand years of death missed. He jumped up and jumped back to prepare for an attack.

' _Nineteen.'_ Naruto got ready run back into the trees when he had to block a kick from the gray-haired man. _'Twenty.'_ He jumped back before being pushed down by Kakashi. The force of the push sent him rolling. He stopped when he collided with a tree. When he opened his eyes, he saw the last traces of the grand fireball technique. _'I…I could have been incinerated.'_ He then noticed that Kakashi had used a replacement and was nowhere to be seen.

Sasuke cursed when he realized that he missed and Kakashi had gotten away. He looked around trying to find the gray-haired ninja.

Kakashi looked down from his branch in the try. _'What was Sasuke thinking? Maybe he didn't see Naruto.'_ He looked and noticed Naruto still seemed to be in shock and Sasuke appeared to be looking for him. He moved away to find Sakura.

Naruto took in a breath and stood up before walking over to Sasuke. "You need to be more careful you almost hit me."

"Well I did tell you to get out of the way," the dark-haired boy retorted.

"But still you didn't give me enough time."

"Are you saying this is _my_ fault?" there was a hint of a threat in the words.

Naruto noticed something flash through his brother's eyes, "N…no Aniki not at all. It was my fault I wasn't fast enough."

"I thought so." Sasuke turned around and started walking, "Come on we have to find him again."

-/-

Sakura made her way through the bushes looking for anyone; she didn't know how she got herself so far from the group. She whirled around when she heard a snap. Kakashi was in the clearing to her left. It appeared he was coming towards her until Sasuke initiated combat.

She watched as her teammate and sensei sent hit after hit to each other. Her eye caught a black streak in the trees above before realizing it was Naruto. The blonde threw a series of shuriken at the gray-haired ninja who dodged most of them and blocked the rest. The youngest boy then jumped down and joined the tussle against the oldest male.

Sakura watched as Kakashi turned to face both of them. She ran out from where she was to push Naruto down and tackle Sasuke out of the way as ten shuriken multiplied into a hundred.

Kakashi smirked to himself, he was finally able to draw Sakura out of her hiding spot by using a simple illusion.

Sasuke grunted as the pink haired girl landed on top of him. He then noticed the shuriken above them and watched as they disappeared. "Can you get off me now?"

Sakura blushed slightly before rolling to the side and getting up. She extended her hand to help him up too; as she did the timer went off.

Naruto smiled, but only to himself. He was still on the ground from where he was pushed but had sat up. They had failed he had managed to fail.

"Well I think it's clear the outcome of this test." Kakashi said looking at all them for a reaction. He watched as Sasuke got angry, Sakura looked sad, and Naruto looked blank. "You all…pass."

Naruto's eyes went wide, "Wh…What?"

"But sensei we didn't get the bells," Sakura added.

"Yes, but that wasn't the point of the test. The test was teamwork; which you all demonstrated by working together. So, you pass." Kakashi smiled at the three new genin.

Naruto stared at the ground before taking a breath and smiling. "You here that? We pass!" Sakura smiled too and Sasuke just smirked as if he had known the point of the test all along. "Hey Aniki, can we go get ramen?"

"Why don't we all go? My treat," Sakura suggested.

"Please?" Naruto added.

"Oh fine, let's go," Sasuke said giving in. His face glowed with pride at having accomplished his goal of over five years, he had his brother close to him where he could keep a close eye on him and make sure that he was safe.

"You three go, but I have to go give my report," Kakashi said before puffing into smoke.

The three newly appointed genin made their way to the ramen stand with light hearted congratulations.

-/-

Sasuke pushed his now empty bowl away from him as he stood up. "I am going to head home otouto. Be back before curfew. Thank you, Sakura."

"Yes, Aniki," Naruto said before going back to his second bowl.

"No problem Sasuke, maybe we could do it again some time," the pink haired girl said with a smile part of her wishing that this could be considered a date, but knowing it couldn't because Naruto.

"Maybe. Remember, home before curfew," Sasuke responded before turning and walking away.

"I will," The blonde answered. He knew better than to mess up. He wanted to keep his older brother in a good mood for as long as possible.

Sakura turned and watched as Naruto ate another bowl. "How much do you eat?" she joked.

"Sorry, I can help pay," the younger boy offered.

"Naw, its fine. So, what's your curfew?" curiosity bubbled out of her. Sakura's parents had stopped enforcing a curfew on her final year in the academy, claiming that if she was becoming an adult she needed to be able to regulate herself.

"I just have to be home before the street lights come on. It's not a big deal." Naruto brushed off the comment. He was never allowed to stay out at night. Sasuke was protective that way.

"Oh, that makes sense. So, do you have any plans for today?" she pried wanting to glimpse a deeper picture of his life.

"No, not really," Naruto said looking up. He pushed the bowl away when he was done. Like he had mentioned in their introductions, he honestly didn't have anything that he did for fun.

"Well I'm supposed to meet up with Ino and her team later, want to come along?" Sakura offered.

"No, I'll be fine. But thanks," he said before standing up. A smile plastered on his face as he gave his female teammate a bow in thanks for lunch.

"Okay, see you later then." Sakura was slightly disappointed to see the boy leaving but had grown to realize he enjoyed his time alone.

"Bye." Naruto turned and walked down the street. He was going to hang out on top the Hokage monument before heading back home.

-/-

Naruto sighed as he leaned against the railing on the Hokage monument. He was losing hope of ever seeing his brother again. _'Itachi, why did you leave? Why didn't you do anything before everyone thought you were a criminal?'_

"Come here to think?"

Naruto turned to look at who had spoken to him to see that it was the Hokage. "Yeah. It's been awhile, whatcha doing here?" the blonde asked. The Hokage had always checked in on him and Naruto felt like they could have been related.

"Oh, just needed to get out of that office and thought a walk would do me good," he said with a smile, "How are you doing? Liking being a genin?"

"I'm doing alright," Naruto decided was a reasonable answer. "Our Jounin leader is nice too."

"That's good to hear. You come and tell me if anything ends up going wrong," Sarutobi said knowing that the young blood sometimes had problems with violence. He wasn't sure that the boy would make it as a ninja, but the kid's spirit and heart was one of a kind.

"Y…yeah I will," Naruto answered then gave a smile.

"I have something for you and Sasuke. It's a scroll that was saved from the fire. There are some more, but I will hold onto those until you two are ready. However, I feel that you can handle this," he spoke while he pulled out a scroll. "There is also something special in there for you that I found the other night when I was looking for this. Hopefully you like it."

The blonde looked at the scroll slightly shocked, he hadn't known that any of the important documents had survived the fire. "Thank you. Thank you very much," Naruto spoke even though he was still kind of shocked.

"It's yours, but remember to share with your brother."

"I will, thank you again." Blonde eyes stared at the scroll as if it was crafted out of gold. He had something of his beloved family. Something had survived.

"I'm glad you like it. Now hurry on home." Sarutobi said and smiled watching the retreating back of the blonde.

-/-

Naruto closed his door and threw the lock before pulling the scroll out from under his shirt. He wanted to look at it first; plus, part of him knew that once Sasuke saw it, the thing would become his.

He untied the knot and opened it slowly wondering what was put in there especially for him. When it was opened he saw a white square. "Hmm?" He picked it up and flipped it over. A gasp left his mouth.

It was a picture. It was of him when he was three being held by the only mother he had ever known. A tear fell from his cheek. He hadn't had a picture of her until now. He pulled the picture to his chest and hugged it.

"I miss you mommy," Naruto said softly before looking at the photo again. He took it and slid it under his pillow for safekeeping. A smile made its way to his face, "Thanks old man," he said to the air.

He turned back to the scroll to see what it was. It had techniques on it. He looked through it, there seemed to only be five written on it.

One- Fire Phoenix _'looks complicated, I'll leave that to Sasuke'_

Two-Fire Shuriken _'Hmm I think I can do that'_

Three-Grand Fireball _'Heh Sasuke can already do that one'_

Four-Fire Flicker _'Hmm this one looks interesting.'_ He read more, _'with a flash of fire this technique distracts the user's opponent while the user is able to hide.'_

Five-Fire Clone _'Wow'_ Naruto's eyes went wide as he read on. This was the one he wanted to learn above all the others. This one he would make his own. He ripped off the end of the scroll and then rolled it back up hiding the piece of the scroll he wanted under his bed. He decided he also wanted to learn the other but would do so with Sasuke. However, the last one he wanted just for him.

Naruto walked out of his room with the scroll and knocked on Sasuke's door.

"Come in," was said from the other side of the door.

The blonde opened the door and walked in, "Sasuke look what the Hokage gave me. He said it was saved from the fire."

Sasuke looked over at the scroll, "Give it here." He took it when it was handed to him and opened it looking it over. "Four techniques, why is it ripped?"

"It must have been like that from before the fire."

"Hn." He evaluated the skills available. "We will start practicing the first, third and fourth tomorrow. I'll hold onto this for now."

"Okay, goodnight Sasuke." Naruto turned around with a grin. His brother was happy. This should keep him occupied for a while.

"Night."

-/-

Naruto sat in his bed looking at the photo again before putting it away. He pulled up his sleeve to look at where the burn had been. It was gone now. He poked where it had been and noticed it felt fine. He sighed falling back against his pillow.

He smiled closing his eyes, "If I could I would give you wings…"

 **Flashback**

"To lift you way up in the air. And you could find the rainbow then, cause wings would get you there." The woman smiled, "If I could I would give you wings to carry you out of the storm they take you higher than the wind and you'd be safe and warm."

Naruto smiled and waved his arms around, "Wings!" The two-year-old said excitedly, "Wings mommy."

"Wings little wings, wings in the wink of an eye, soon your little wings will be big enough to fly."

"I can fly mommy," the blonde said excitedly running around then grabbing the woman's legs.

She smiled and continued singing, "If I could I would give you wings to lighten your heart through the years, they'd flutter soft around you then and dry up all your tears. Wings little wings, wings in the wink of an eye. Soon your little wings will be big enough to fly. Soon your little wings will be big enough to fly." She finished and picked up the giggling boy.

"I love you mommy."

"I love you too Naruto."

He smiled glad he stayed with his mom instead of going out with his brothers. "I wanna fly."

"Some day you will, baby."

 **End Flashback**

"I'll fly some day mom, are you watching me?" he asked looking out the window at the stars.

-/-

 **A/N:** Prologue through Chapter 5 re-write. I know it is only small corrections and added details, but for me it is important.

I hope you enjoyed!

And a quick explanation, the reason that Naruto doesn't tell anyone about what is going on with Sasuke: one, he tried and it didn't work. Two, he feels that he can help Sasuke, that his brother is still in there. Three, like most victims of domestic violence, he feels that a large part of it is his fault and therefore he can make it better. Four, even victims who know that they are not the cause of the abuse are afraid to speak out due to guilt, shame, and the general belief that nothing can change.


	2. Part Two

**Insanity's Slip**

 **Part Two**

By Boejangles

* * *

Naruto was exhausted. The last month had been the same routine over and over again: wake up and make breakfast for both boys, meet up with Sakura to then wait two hours for Kakashi to show up, five to seven hours of miscellaneous chores with varying levels of physical demand yet no true correlation to shinobi skills, hit or miss if he was allowed to have lunch with their pink haired teammate or if his brother dragged him straight back home, home where they spent as many hours as Sasuke deemed necessary to work on their new jutsu, then he cooked them dinner and cleaned up everything paying careful attention to not leave any messes, then bed. Besides the occasional yelling and slap here and there, which to the blonde was just normal day life, the month had been peaceful, exhausting, but peaceful.

Naruto watched as Sasuke jumped into the air before performing the fire phoenix, which he had been practicing all afternoon. This morning they had walked some dogs, pulled some weeds, and painted a fence.

"That looked good," The blonde commented with a huge grin on his face. He marveled at his brother's ability to pick up almost any jutsu and make it his own.

"How's the fire flicker coming?" The older boy asked having landed gracefully in a crouch.

"Well…I have the first part down, but I keep singing myself," Naruto spoke softly fiddling his fingers not wanting to disappoint the young teen. When blue eyes raised from the ground, he realized that the dark-haired boy wasn't even looking at him.

"Alright, let's stop and do more tomorrow." Sasuke rubbed his forehead trying to make the headache he was getting go away. It felt as though his brain was throbbing violently against his skull. He needed to go lay down in a dark room. Bringing his hand up to shield the sun from his eyes, he continued speaking, "I am going to go lay down before we eat."

"Alright, I'll make dinner," Naruto said following the dark-haired boy into the house. He hoped his brother hadn't pushed himself too far. He looked worse for wear right now.

Sasuke nodded and went off to his room shutting the door with a slight thud. He turned and looked at the bed and then the far wall. His head was pounding, and he could feel the sweat sliding down his brow. His heart was speeding for an unknown reason. He needed to lie down and rest. Yeah, some sleep would do him good.

' _He is getting stronger. He doesn't need you anymore.'_ Sasuke whirled around in search for the voice although it sounded muted like he hadn't actually heard it with is ears.

"Who's there?" his voice called into the room as he searched for a source of the statement. The pain in his head intensified and he was forced to clench his eyes shut as his hand reached up to clutch the front of his face.

Naruto looked up at the ceiling with a quizzical look when he heard a loud thud. He set the pan he had pulled out down on the counter and made his way upstairs.

"Aniki, you okay?" He furrowed his brow when there was no answer, "Sasuke?" still no answer. He knocked lightly on the door. Had his brother fallen? Was he hurt? His hand reached out to grab the door knob.

The door was yanked open in a quick motion followed by an angry, "What?" causing the blonde to jump backwards. Sasuke's face was almost directly in front of his.

"I just heard a noise and wanted to make sure everything was okay," Naruto's voice was soft and quiet in an attempt to calm the anger that was whirling about his brother's eyes. He didn't know what happened. It had been a good day. He needed to de-escalate the situation.

"How sweet of you, you think that I need your help," was the sarcastic reply.

"I'm just gonna go and finish diner." Naruto said backing away from his older brother and heading back towards the stairs. He kept his eyes on the larger frame as took a tentative step back. Perhaps his brother just needed some space, that he wanted quiet.

"Aww, and I was looking forward to playing a game. Don't you want to play a game with me?" A grin that was anything but pleasant made its way onto the older Uchiha's face.

The blonde visibly stiffened; he couldn't say no, but he didn't want to say yes. "What kind of game?"

"Hide and seek," Sasuke responded with a smirk.

"I should really go finish diner," his voice came out shaky as he attempted one last escape. He didn't like hide and seek- it always ended with pain, bruises, and when Sasuke was really having fun, broken bones.

"One…two…" The words seem to echo off the doorway in an almost sing song tune.

Naruto's feet began moving before his brain processed that he was moving. He ran as fast as his legs would take him sliding when he reached the stairs and then bolted down the stairs two at a time. 'Hide, hide, hide!' his mind was yelling at him. He needed to find somewhere. He turned to go left, stopped, and ran right before turning and going into the bathroom; he made his way into the bathtub and pulled the shower curtain. Crouching down he pulled his knees to his chest, set his head on his knees, and listened. He knew it wasn't the best hiding spot, but he had no idea how long his brother intended to count.

"Ready or not here I come!" The blonde cringed slightly when he heard these words. He listened carefully, the footsteps were above him; he didn't need to worry yet.

He could hear as the steps left his bedroom and stopped at the closet, then the upstairs bathroom, they were coming down the stairs, then the faded as they walked into the kitchen. His pulse was racing, his eyes were closed, all of his attention was on what he could hear.

'Give up, give up,' Naruto chanted to himself. His ears perked up when the steps left the kitchen and went into the living room, and then they stopped completely. He listened closely and for a second was starting to relax thinking his wish came true. Then the footsteps were coming towards him. 'Shit'.

His eyes snapped open as the bathroom door was opened. The footsteps slowly came closer. 'Please no, please just go away, please…'

"No, he couldn't be in here. I must be all wrong," Sasuke said almost playfully, "I wonder what would happen if I turned the water on."

Naruto was completely still, he didn't want to move or even breath. Maybe Sasuke was testing him. He wasn't going to react, he was going to be still, be invisible. His plan however went out the window as a yelp left his lips from the sensation of the burning water leaving the showerhead.

Sasuke yanked the shower curtain back, "Boo!"

The blonde pushed back against the shower wall trying to ignore the hot water hitting him while simultaneously making himself as small as possible.

The dark-haired boy got a smirk as his hand moved to the water control and shifted it to the far right.

Naruto shivered slightly as the water got icy. He stayed pushed against the wall and wondered why he wasn't getting hit. He had been bracing himself for a punch that had yet to come. He watched as Sasuke flipped the switch so that all the water began to fill the tub. It was just some cold water, better than getting beat. His eyes glanced down as the water began to soak the fabric of his pants.

A laugh trickled up Sasuke's throat as the blonde shivered and the water got higher. "Thought you were really smart, didn't you? Well you were wrong, weren't you? You think that you're better than me, that you don't need me."

"I'm sorry," Naruto mumbled through chattering teeth. He didn't know exactly what he had done, but better just say sorry anyways. He felt like he was standing in ice, the sensation felt like tiny needles stabbing his feet and lower legs.

"That won't work this time," the older boy bit out while reaching and grabbing the blonde's shoulders. He yanked the smaller boy and began to shake the smaller boy successfully disorienting him. "You are weak! Weak! Weak! Weak!" his voice was nearly a scream he shoved the blonde down into the tub.

Naruto pushed his arms forward to catch himself and they hit the bottom of the tub. Pain surged in his wrist and he had half a second to realize he had landed badly before he felt hands on his back shoving him towards the water.

He fought against Sasuke pushing him down, but his right arm gave out and he fell forward. The dark-haired boy pushed down hard causing the younger one to be submerged in water.

Bubbles came up as Naruto kicked his legs wildly and reached his arm around to hit at the older boys, but it was hard to get past the sides of the tub to strike out. The stabbing pain of the ice water was outweighed by the sudden realization that he couldn't breathe.

Sasuke yanked him out of the water and flipped him over deciding he would prefer to see his brothers face as he struggled. In a quick motion he pushed the blonde back into the water until he was completely submerged. Water splashed over the side of the tub and covered the bathroom floor.

Naruto scratched at Sasuke's arms trying to get him to let go before grabbing the sides of the tub and tried to pull himself up. His feet were kicking like crazy. One kick managed to turn the water off. He barely registered the change in the sound from the pounding water to just his thrashing and the sound of pounding against porcelain.

Sasuke pulled him back up and watched him gasp for air. "You aren't strong. You are weak. You. Need. Me."

"Stop, please," the younger boy managed to beg before being pushed back under water. His hands went to the older one's wrists and he dug his nails into the flesh trying to force them to release.

Sasuke just growled and made a jerking motion that caused Naruto to hit his head on the bottom of the tub. He then jerked the blonde back up and gave him a violent shake.

"Cold, so cold. P…please, stop." If he was going to say anything else being pushed into the water cut him off.

Naruto stopped struggling as the water became warm and he was content not to move. He pushed his foot out, he didn't hear the small 'thunk' as the drain release was pushed in and the water began to drain.

Sasuke started shaking the younger boy, pulling him out and then pushing him back in the water rapidly. Naruto went limp in his hands as everything became blurry. The dark-haired boy pushed the boy back down and then let go leaving the bathroom.

Slumped unmoving against the back of the tub, Naruto coughed up some water and took in a breath before everything went black.

-/-

His eyes opened slowly as he looked around. How did he get wet? He was covered in water, but it seemed to be almost dried. His head wasn't hurting anymore so that was a plus. His arms, however, were very sore. He must have pushed himself too hard in training. Shrugging of the ache, he walked out of the room and made his way down stairs.

Coughs violently shook his frame. There was smoke, it was coming from the kitchen. Something in the oven was on fire. He turned off the oven quickly and pulled it open trying to get it out. The smoke caused him to cough again.

"Naruto. Naruto!" Sasuke called out knowing his little brother wouldn't just leave something in the kitchen unattended. "Naruto!" He started searching the house frantically after successfully extinguishing the fire.

He yanked open the cracked bathroom door and saw Naruto in the bathtub. His head was leaning against the side of the tub and his hair was wet and stuck to the top of his head. Sasuke ran in and nearly slipped on the water covering the floor. He fell to his knees not caring that his almost dry pants were once again soaked and began to shake his baby brother.

"Naruto, Naruto answer me." There was no response, just silence. Sasuke realized that his little brother's lips were pale, and he was drenched, his skin looked pale. He pulled the smaller boy out of the tub and onto the floor. He leaned down and listened for a heartbeat. There was a steady beat. He then listened for breathing it was there. Why wasn't he waking up?

His eyes trailed over the small frame and that's when he noticed the violent shivers. He grabbed for the towels bringing down the entire towel rack with them. He didn't care. He bundled the towels around the blonde and started rubbing in an effort to warm. "Naruto, wake up."

Blue eyes blinked open and looked around groggily. His lips parted and gasped for air almost like he hadn't realized he was out of the water.

Sasuke had a wave of relief wash over him as he saw his younger brother awake. He grabbed the driest towel and wrapped him in it. "You scared me what happened?"

"I'm sorry Sasuke, I'm sorry," Naruto mumbled still slightly out of it.

Sasuke shook his head, "What do you have to be sorry for?"

"Cold, so cold," was the only response the met the question.

Sasuke picked Naruto up and carried him up the stairs deciding to get him out of the wet clothes and try and get him warm.

'I'm sorry Sasuke, I'm sorry.' Naruto's words replayed in his head and he wondered what exactly he had missed.

-/-

It had been three days since he had found Naruto in the tub, and Sasuke had kept his distance since then, only coming around for training and missions with Kakashi. His eyes held a distance and Naruto didn't want to chance what would happen if he snapped him out of it.

Naruto had worked in private on the fire clone. He quickly caught onto the basics and was close to perfecting it.

Missions were mundane and nothing hard; walking dogs, catching cats, cleaning windows, painting fences, nothing special.

The blonde was currently in the backyard working on the fire jutsu from the scroll. He had thought about talking to Kakashi about what was happening, but old memories always stopped him.

 **Flashback**

 _A woman with long dark hair stood at the counter fixing a sandwich. She was swaying slightly and humming._

 _A small blonde boy was grinning above his sandwich and dancing back and forth. "Yummy!" he called licking peanut butter off his lips. He looked over at his older brother who was waiting for his own sandwich. He ran over and offered his sandwich, "Here Sasuke!"_

 _Sasuke looked at the sandwich and smiled taking a bite. "Thanks!"_

 _The blonde ran over and grabbed onto his mother's legs dancing with her and smiling._

" _That was a good thing you did," she said looking down at him, "You guys need to take care of each other and look out for one another."_

" _Always!" Naruto cheered looking over at his brother._

" _Always," Sasuke answered with a smile before the blonde pulled him wanting to dance, to which he gave in._

 **End Flashback**

"Always," Naruto repeated to himself. His brother needed him more now than ever. He had to take care of him. He had to protect him. He had to save him. He had a promise to keep.

"Otouto, come in and get dinner started," the voice of the male he had been thinking about broke him from his thoughts.

"Yes Aniki," he responded making his way inside and to the kitchen. "I thought you were making diner."

"I was having trouble getting it ready, you're a better cook anyway." Sasuke pushed on the blonde's shoulder playfully. He motioned towards the vegetables that he had pulled out for stir fry.

"Oh, well wanna help?" Naruto asked cleaning some carrots.

Sasuke quirked an eyebrow at the question, they hadn't cooked together for as long as he could remember. A smile graced his lips and he nodded, "What can I do?"

"Well, here," he said handing him the now clean carrots, "you can cut these up."

"Alright," the dark-haired boy said taking the carrots and grabbing a chef knife. The chops were uneven. Give him a target and he was number one, a carrot, and well- his brother really was the better cook.

Naruto felt oddly good and smiled to himself about his brother helping. Things were good, they had actually been better than good the last few days. Sasuke had been mildly ignoring him, but when they were together he was being really nice. It felt like home for the first time in a long time. "If only big brother were back," he commented to himself.

Sasuke's grip tightened on the knife, his ears had to be playing a trick on him. It was impossible that what he thought he heard had actually been what his brother had said. "What?" he asked turning around.

"No…nothing Sasuke," Naruto said turning to face the older boy. He hadn't realized that he had spoken out loud. Itachi was a forbidden topic. He had learned long ago never to mention their older brother. This had been a major mistake.

"You just said something, what did you say?" Rage was flashing in his eyes. He needed the younger boy to prove him wrong.

"Nothing, I said nothing," the blonde repeated waving his hands frantically as if to dissipate the situation.

"Liar!" he shouted anger laced his voice. "He left us! He left you! I'm the one that protected you! Me! I gave up everything for you! Everything! And you still call for him! For that monster!" Sasuke was screamed lunging his arm forward.

A strange small sound made its way out of Naruto's mouth as he looked down. He could see the handle of the knife. 'That's odd,' he thought before realizing the knife's blade was inside him. He couldn't move, but felt his knees buckle and give way as he fell over.

Sasuke took a step back snapping back to reality. His eyes went wide seeing the blonde on the ground. "Na..Naruto?" He took a tentative step forward as he called out his brother's name like he was scared to disturb him. When the boy didn't move, the older Uchiha began to panic.

Dropping to his knees, he flipped the small boy onto his back. There was blood soaking the front of the blonde's shirt. He grimaced as he reached out to take hold of the knife. He didn't know what had happened. Why was the knife in Naruto? They were cooking and then…why couldn't he remember? He cursed under his breath as he tightened his grip on the knife and pulled.

It left Naruto's body with a slurping noise that caused Sasuke to cringe. His eyes widened in horror as blood seeped from his brother's chest at an increasing rate.

"Fuck! No! Naruto!" He snapped both of his hands over the hole in the blonde's chest as a desperate attempt to keep the blonde inside the small body.

-/-

Dark. Everything was dark. Naruto blinked his eyes slowly wishing they would adjust to the darkness. He had no idea where he was. He had been in the kitchen, and now? His head swiveled around in search of an answer as he began to distinguish outlines.

He could tell that he was in a small space; perhaps, a tunnel? He moved his feet in place and instantly knew that he was standing on a thin layer of water. Just where the hell was he and how did he get there?

"Stand up," a voice soft yet commanding called out and jerked his attention to the left. He didn't recognize the voice and he wasn't sure if he was happy or not that he wasn't alone.

"Who's there?" Naruto called out taking tentative steps towards the voice. Nothing was making any sense.

"Come to me child," the voice was calming, it made him feel safe. It was soft and almost came out as a purr.

He followed the voice, his curiosity getting the better of him. His steps quickened as the room became visible around him. He was walking towards a light. HE stopped when he came upon large bars. Blue eyes widened. Behind the bars a mystical and beautiful, yet somehow, he knew, dangerous creature sat staring down at him; a giant crimson fox with many swishing tails. The energy rolled off the creature and he almost choked on it. He had never felt anything so powerful in his entire life. "What are you?"

"I am the Kyuubi no Kitsune, ruler of the nine tailed demons." The creature seemed to straighten with pride at the proclamation.

"Demons?" Naruto's voice was almost a whisper. How had he landed a presence in front of a ruler of demons?

"Yes, however that is not important right now," the voice was sharp and demanded respect and complete attention.

Naruto looked at the creature questioningly, "Why?" It definitely seemed important that his was talking to a gigantic fox when a moment ago he had been cooking dinner.

"You are dying," Kyuubi said softly, "but I can help. All you need to do is reach out and grab my paw."

"D…dying?" The blonde gulped and took a step back. How? Why? His eyes widened as he remembered- Sasuke had stabbed him. Blue eyes trailed down to his chest and his breath caught in his throat at the sight of blood. His hand twitched as he brought it up to the hole. Sasuke had…killed him.

"You must hurry and let me help you." The fox's voice broke him from his thoughts, but the look of horror still filled his eyes. "You have to reach out to me, now, before it is too late."

Naruto nodded and took a step forward reaching his hand through the bars. A red paw grabbed hold of his hand and felt like fire and electricity all at the same time. It felt as if the burning energy was racing through his veins. He felt strong, stronger then he had ever felt. Then is grew. It was too much. Too hot. Too fast. He screamed out as the red shot up his arm and engulfed his entire body. He was burning! Another scream tore up his throat and he fell backwards. He fell unconscious, unaware of his flesh stitching itself back together.

Kyuubi sighed looking at the small boy. She had been angered at being trapped inside the boy, but after watching how much the boy struggled just to live; she held a respect for him. What humans could do to one another disgusted her. She had opened the connection between them. Now, she would be able to heal him without him coming here and even without him knowing. She would look after the child from now on.

-/-

Sasuke was panicking. He couldn't get the bleeding to stop and the blonde had begun to take ragged breaths before he stopped breathings all together.

"No!" the older boy screamed out and abandoned his attempt to keep Naruto from bleeding out in favor of frantically searching for a pulse. He couldn't find one. He couldn't find on!

Scooping the boy into his arms, Sasuke began to run. He barely made if halfway through their backyard before chakra exploded from his younger brother. The dark-haired boy felt before he saw the red layer engulf his brother. It came with such force that the older boy was thrown several feet back.

A string of curses poured from Sasuke's mouth. He would be damned if he would let anything stop him from saving his brother. He crawled forward on his hands and knees barely recognizing that there was pain shouting through his body. Gritting his teeth, he forced himself forward. There was still red circling his brother's form and it burned as he attempted to entire it. Then, as soon as it had appeared, it was gone.

Relief. Pure, unadulterated relief, surged through his body as blue eyes slowly opened. He pulled the smaller boy into a tight hug. His brother was alive. Words started pouring from his lips before he realized that he was speaking.

"I am so sorry, otouto! I don't know what happened. You were there, and you were bleeding. Oh god. I am so sorry!" Without even realizing it, he was sobbing, his body shaking as he clutched to Naruto for dear life. "Don't leave me alone. Please, just don't leave me. I'm so sorry. I don't want to be alone. Please forgive me!"

Naruto was suddenly very aware of several things at once: he was no longer in that strange room, he was alive, Sasuke was clinging to him and begging for forgiveness. Lifting a hand, he brought it down to pat his older brother on the head. He knew rationally that his brother for all intents and purposes had murdered him, but he also knew that the boy clutching him now wasn't the same one that had plunged the knife into his chest.

"I'm okay. I'm here. I'm okay," the blonde repeated a few times attempting to calm the teen that was weeping into his chest making his already sticky shirt damp with tears. Adjusting himself so that he could sit up, he wrapped his arms around the older boy. "I'm okay, Aniki. I'm not going anywhere."

Sasuke's sobs quieted into hiccups and shaky breathing. He slowly lifted his head to investigate Naruto's face like he needed reassurance that he was alive, actually talking to him now.

It was only when his head was fully raised that blue eyes widened in shock and horror. "Your hurt!" the younger Uchiha called out rattled. His older brother was covered in burns from the nose down. His arms were the worst. The burns were nastier than when Sasuke had a grand fire ball go off too early and engulfed himself in flames.

At the speed of worry, Naruto was rushing his brother into the house to treat his injuries having become quite skilled at wound treatment. He couldn't quiet the thought in his head that he had done this, that he had hurt his brother. He barely managed to sit Sasuke on the couch before the older boy succumbed to emotional and physical exhaustion and allowed his eyes to slide shut.

The blonde hurried about the house cleaning and treating his brother's injuries knowing they would take awhile to heal. He then busied himself with cleaning the blood off the floor of the kitchen. It was dizzying. It looked like more blood than he could even store in his body.

The sun sank lower in the sky and it wasn't long before exhaustion caught up with the small Uchiha as well.

The next morning, after ensuring that Sasuke was sleeping peacefully in bed, Naruto made his way to the training ground to meet up with his team. He explained quiet colorfully how training had gone horribly wrong last night and that while he would be okay, Sasuke was injured and needed to stay home to rest and heal.

Kakashi had insisted on a home visit and only after seeing for himself that Sasuke didn't require hospitalization, did he dismiss his team so that Naruto could stay with his brother and Sakura could focus on personal training. He assured them that they would catch up on training once Sasuke was back on his feet.

* * *

 **A/N:** Alright! Major changes from the original! There were major inconsistencies in the original writing of this. Things just didn't make sense and I had to fix that. I am really happy with how this turned out.

If you were an original reader, let me know what you think about the changes. If you are a new reader, let me know what you think of the story so far. Feel free to ask any questions! I love hearing from my readers!


	3. Part Three

**Insanity's Slip**

 **Part Three**

By Boejangles

* * *

Falling forward, Naruto was quickly aware that his face was going to be becoming intimate with the floor. He had been racing down the steps of the Hokage monument and then he must have caught on something. He had been coming to the monument daily since his brother's injury almost as a form of repentance. It was taking Sasuke a lot longer to heal than it ever took him. He must have been lost in his thoughts, because he honestly had no idea what had caused him to trip.

"Oof!" came a muffled cry from under the blonde.

Oh, a person, he had tripped on a person. Naruto stood up quickly getting off of whomever he fell on. "I'm sorry," he mumbled sheepishly with embarrassment flushing his cheeks pink.

"You're crushing me," came the voice of a brown-haired boy wearing a yellow shirt, a blue scarf, and goggles on top of his head.

"I'm sorry." Naruto said again this time not mumbled. He brought a hand up to rub the back of his head nervously. "I wasn't watching where I was going."

The boy crossed his arms and pouted slightly. Then his eyes noticed the blonde's headband and they lite up with a sparkle. "Hey you're a ninja?"

"Yeah, I am," Naruto said with a small smile amused with the boy's quick change in mood.

"Cool! My name's Konohamaru. How old are you?" Konohamaru asked very interested in learning what he could about the boy. He didn't seem much bigger than he was.

"My names Naruto and I'm 10," the blonde responded holding out a hand attempting to make a proper introduction.

The other boy didn't even notice the hand since he was in a slight state of shock. "Your ten and you a ninja? I'm nine and I still have to wait three years," the last part was said with a bit of a pout.

"I guess I was a special case," Naruto said feeling slightly uncomfortable. He fidgeted with his hands. He didn't like upsetting people and didn't like that the other boy's mood had seemed to change again.

"You have to come meet my friends!" Konohamaru exclaimed grabbing the blonde's hand and pulling him along.

Naruto was slightly dizzy by the time they arrived at their destination. He was standing in front of two other nine-year-olds. One was a girl pink shirt, a red cape, and matching goggles like the first boy. The other was a boy wearing an over sized blue shirt, glasses, and the same goggles. He was starting to wonder if the goggles were symbolic of something.

"Hey guys this is Naruto," Konohamaru said pointing to the blonde with a smile deeming that no other explanation was necessary.

The girl who had a light orange hair jumped forward, "The one who possess the sex appeal of an adult, Moegi!"

The boy who had hair the same color as Konohamaru's but slicked down jumped up, "The one who loves dividing numbers, Udon!"

Konohamaru then jumped forward, "This village's number one genius ninja, Konohamaru!"

"The three of us make…the Konohamaru Corps!" the three spoke in unison striking different poses.

Naruto stared slightly shocked.

"What do you think?" Konohamaru asked.

Naruto blinked a few times, "Cool!" It felt a little weird being with kids closer to his age; being around kids that liked to play.

Konohamaru supported a confident grin, Moegi had a slight blush, and Udon was fixing his glasses.

Konohamaru stepped forward, "Do you want to play with us?"

"Play?" Naruto couldn't think of any games, at least not any actual games that anyone would want to play. "Play what?"

"Play ninja of course," Moegi said with a slight giggle smiling at the older boy.

"I don't know how," the blonde responded honestly.

"That's okay we will teach you," Udon said wiping his nose on his sleeve.

Naruto smiled and nodded his head, "I will like that." He honestly couldn't remember ever playing with friends. It was always training or other more serious stuff. He was excited.

The next few hours were spent running around, playing tag, learning dance moves, and for Naruto, having the time of his life.

* * *

"You should come have dinner with us, we are going over to my uncle's house," Konohamaru said from where he was laying on the grass in a matter of fact voice that left little room for a declination.

They had all just collapsed laughing onto the ground a few minutes prior.

"Yeah you should come," Moegi said looking over at Naruto with the same big grin she had been wearing all day.

"It wouldn't be the same without you," Udon added nudging his shoulder.

Naruto smiled looking over his three new friends. When he thought about it, they were his only three friends. The kids from his class treated him more like a puppy and Sakura was more like an older sister. He smiled at Konohamaru, "Well if boss wants me to go, then I'll go."

"Alright!" Konohamaru said pumping his hand into the air triumphantly.

* * *

Asuma opened the front door when there was a knock only to be looking at nothing, before he noticed a square rock. ' _Here we go again'_ , he thought crossing his arms and looked at the poor excuse for a rock as it exploded emitting a lot of smoke.

Moegi jumped out of the smoke first, "The one who possess the sex appeal of an adult, Moegi!"

Udon jumped out next, "The one who loves dividing numbers, Udon!"

Naruto was the next to jump out, "The youngest of this year's Genin, Naruto!"

Konohamaru was the final one to jump out, "This village's number one genius ninja, Konohamaru!"

"The four of us make…the Konohamaru Corps!" the four spoke in unison.

Asuma raised his eyebrow at the new addition to the Konohamaru Corps. After closer inspection he noticed it was the Uchiha that Shikamaru had mentioned.

Konohamaru took Naruto to the side, "I think we still need to work on your introduction."

"Okay boss," the blonde agreed with a nod. Konohamaru had already been the official boss of the group and Naruto, being reserved, was not one to try and change that.

Asuma got the boys attention, "Naruto as in Uchiha Naruto?"

"Yes sir," Naruto said with a nod.

"I'm assuming you are all here for dinner?" Asuma asked wondering if he had enough food.

"Of course, Unc its tradition!" Konohamaru proclaimed walking into the house like there was never any doubt about them staying.

"Well come on you three get in," the only adult present said moving aside to let the others in.

For some reason Naruto felt comfortable just being with people he could joke with. For once, he felt his actual age.

* * *

"Bye, Naruto!" Konohamaru shouted giving the other boy a hug when it came time for the blonde to go down a different street.

"Goodnight, Naruto," Moegi said with a blush gracing her cheeks as she hugged the older boy.

"See you around, Naruto," Udon said with a salute.

"Bye guys I had fun!" Naruto exclaimed before running down his street towards the house.

It started dawning on Naruto just how long he had been gone and how dark it was. He opened the door quietly and shut it even quieter.

"Welcome home," a voice that could only belong to Sasuke called out from the dark room.

Naruto jumped slightly and swallowed. His voice was barely above a whisper, "I'm sorry I'm late."

"Late? Not just late, its way past curfew," Sasuke declared and you could tell from his voice he was trying to control himself and contain his anger. He had been worried when his brother hadn't been back to make dinner. Images of a blood covered Naruto had been flashing through his mind. He had been too weak to tear the village apart searching for the boy and was forced to wait a bundle of anxiety and worse case scenarios. "What exactly were you doing?"

"I ran into some kids and they invited me to play with them and then to have dinner. I lost track of time, I'm really sorry Aniki," the blonde explained hoping to earn forgiveness.

"Well if these kids caused you to come home so late then perhaps you shouldn't be spending time with them," Sasuke said standing up from where he was sitting ready to leave the conversation at that.

"But they are my friends!" Naruto shouted defensively.

"Friends that caused you to come home late!" Sasuke yelled back at him angry that his little brother was fighting him on this.

"They're my only friends!" Naruto yelled growing angry himself. He couldn't let Sasuke take this from him too.

"Then perhaps you don't need friends!" Sasuke shouted getting louder to gain control of the situation. ' _He is trying to replace you._ ' Taking a step forward, the older Uchiha leveled his brother with a glare that was telling him to back down.

"You can't tell me that I can't be with my _friends_!" Naruto yelled taking a step towards Sasuke. Tears were welling in his eyes. He couldn't let this go. He couldn't go back to being so alone. He had to win just this one thing. Just this and it would be enough.

The older Uchiha's eyes went red infuriated that the other was being so defiant and he smacked the blonde across the face. ' _He is replacing you and then he is going to leave you.'_

Naruto was forced against the door with enough force that it pushed the air from his lungs. Before he could take in a breath to replace what he had just lost, a hand was at his throat constricting.

Sasuke was right in Naruto's face tightening his grip on the blonde's neck, fingernails digging into flesh leaving red crescent moons from the pressure. "Yes! I can tell you who you can be around, and I can tell you whom you can't! Do you really want to test my power in this? After everything I did for you? Don't. Push. Me."

Naruto coughed trying to get air back in his lungs and was smacking at his brother's hand. He wheezed out something unintelligible fury filling blue orbs.

"What was that?" Sasuke teased loosening his grip enough from the blonde to take in a breath.

"You aren't my brother," Naruto spat out with fire in his eyes fully believing that this wasn't his brother right now. He hated the man in front of him. He hated what his brother became. It was like cancer. If he could find the tumor, he would cut it out and burn it into nothingness.

Sasuke's eyes adopted a crazed looked and a humorless chuckle trickled out of his lips and filled the dark room. Lifting the younger boy off the ground, he threw him into the wall with enough force to send a picture frame to the floor shattering on impact. "I see these little 'friends' of yours have given you some false spirit. I guess I have to break you again."

Naruto's body shook in rage from where he was crouched on the ground. His eyes flashed red and he lunged at Sasuke, "Give me my brother back! I want my brother back!"

Sasuke flipped the two of them over and punched the blonde in the stomach. "You need to learn your place and learn it now! You listen to me! You obey me! I control you!" His brought his fist back again and hit Naruto in the face.

Naruto felt the air leave him and then his head smacked against the floor hard enough to swarm his vision with white. "I don't know you anymore," he was able to wheeze out on the brink of crying; from anger or desperation he wasn't sure.

"Shut up!" the older Uchiha shouted before he started and attack with both his fists. "You are under me and you need to know it! You would be nothing without me! After everything I've done for you, I deserve your respect and obedience!"

Naruto tried his hardest to turn his pain into anger, but he just couldn't bring himself to seriously hurt his brother even if he wasn't acting right. A tiny part of his brain recognized that his brother's arms were bleeding again indicating he had reopened his wounds- he couldn't help but feel guilty, responsible.

Sasuke brought down his arm with an especially forceful punch right into the younger boy's forehead. He entire frame was heaving up and down from the force of his enraged breathing.

Naruto heard the crack before he felt it; he felt his hair becoming wet before actually feeling the pain. The pain the started as a buzzing light. The rest of the punches weren't even felt.

When Sasuke finally ran out of energy he got off of the younger boy and stood up wiping the blood from his hands onto his pants, "Don't question me again." With that he left the room up the stairs.

Naruto felt like he was choking and then he realized he was choking, on his own blood. He rolled onto his side and spit up the blood. He slowly reached up his hand and felt the back of his head feeling how sticky and wet it was.

' _I just need enough strength to stand up…just stand up.'_ He forced himself to get up and was able to very slowly. He started feeling a different strength running through him.

Naruto blacked out and couldn't remember leaving the house or how he was walking down the silent dark streets. He would phase in feeling confused and then phase out surrounded by a warm comfort. He wasn't sure were he was going or how his body was even still moving, he just wanted to sleep.

* * *

 **A/N:** Just wanted to see if anyone was still reading this? I've been distracted with my original story; but if there are still people wanting to read this after all these years, I will put in more of an effort to finish this story.


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